AMNA NAWAZ: Paramount announced today it's acquiring The Free Press, the independent news and commentary Web site founded in 2021 by Bari Weiss.

As part of the $150 million deal, Weiss will also take on a new role at CBS News as editor in chief.

A former opinion editor at The New York Times, Weiss describes herself as a centrist politically and is known for pushing back against what she calls woke orthodoxy in mainstream media.

She alleged a culture of intolerance when she resigned from The Times.

After the announcement, Weiss posted a video message saying, in part, this: BARI WEISS, Editor, The Free Press: What does it mean for CBS News?

It means a redoubled commitment to great journalism.

It means building on a storied legacy and bringing that historic newsroom into 2025 and beyond.

Most of all, it means working tirelessly to make sure CBS is the most trusted news organization in the world.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on what this means for CBS News and the broader media landscape, I'm joined by Oliver Darcy.

He's founder and lead author of the media newsletter Status.

He also co-hosts his podcast called "Power Lines."

Oliver, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

OLIVER DARCY, Status: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So before we talk about what this all mean, just tell us a little bit more about Bari Weiss.

I mean, this is someone who criticized Trump in his first term.

She's also staunchly defended Israel, decried woke culture in colleges and media.

How would you describe her voice and her role in the media landscape?

OLIVER DARCY: Sure.

I think she's unquestionably -- and she probably would concede this herself -- a very polarizing figure.

She is someone who is difficult to really put in one bucket.

You wouldn't say she's, for instance, a MAGA media personality, but she certainly not on the left either.

I think the things that -- the best way actually to maybe describe her is what she stands against, what she rails against.

And that really does end up aligning her more with conservatives.

She is, for instance, very anti-DEI, anti-woke, as you said.

She has been a very staunch critic of the mainstream press and I think at times has been actually fairly dishonest in the way she's portrayed how the mainstream press operates and how it reports and suggested, for instance, that it is biased, it's unfair, it doesn't take into account the conservative point of view.

And while she has been critical of Trump at times, while The Free Press has been critical of Trump, I can't help but say that if you go to The Free Press on a regular basis, it's a right-wing opinion blog really at the end of the day.

And while it does criticize Trump occasionally, the main threat, I think you would -- you take away, you would say the main threat to Western civilization is not Trump and the creeping autocracy in this country.

It's really initiatives like DEI or being too woke, and that is the real main threat to Western civilization, to America.

And that's what David Ellison is buying today.

It's this right-wing opinion blog that really pushes those narratives.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, so what does this mean for CBS News then, Oliver, for a fierce critic of mainstream media to now be in charge of one of the legacy institutions here?

It's home to storied journalism brands like "60 Minutes."

What does that mean for CBS News and what are you hearing from folks inside?

OLIVER DARCY: I think there's real concern inside CBS News about what this means.

I don't think anyone really knows what it means.

I think we can just, though, read the tea leaves, right?

And if you follow Bari Weiss, you know she's been, again, critical of the way the mainstream press has operated, critical of the way, for instance, it covered the pandemic and the election of Donald Trump and a number of other things.

So I think what we will likely see is them work to fold in what they would say are conservative views, which end up being pro-Trump views.

I think that's certainly likely to happen at CBS News.

But there's a real question of how involved Bari will be in guiding this organization editorially.

Is this a editor in chief title that she is being given, but she's really not going to be in the lead, or is she actually going to be on those 9:00 a.m.

editorial meetings directing coverage?

And that remains to be seen.

And I think that's what CBS News are thinking -- or staffers are wondering today.

How involved is she going to be programming a program like "60 Minutes"?

Is it going to be very hands on or is she going to let the program operate fairly autonomously like it has for decades?

That's unknown.

AMNA NAWAZ: So give us the bigger media picture landscape here now, because when you look at the Ellison family here, right, you have Larry Ellison, the father of David Ellison, who's the founder of Oracle.

Larry is -- he's a strong Trump supporter as well.

He's also now among the investors in this newly configured American version of TikTok.

The family is also aiming to acquire Warner Bros.

Discovery.

This father-son duo now controls huge swathes of the media, both in social media and in Hollywood and on television.

How does that change the landscape?

OLIVER DARCY: Yes, these are the new media titans of our age.

Like you said, they already control Paramount, which means they control CBS News, the Paramount Pictures studio.

And now they are, to my understanding, according to sources, preparing a bid for Warner Bros.

Discovery, which obviously has the Warner Bros.

studio, controls HBO Max and also has CNN.

And so what you could see soon is David Ellison and his son -- or -- sorry -- Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison controlling a large part of how Americans absorb the information from around the world, the news as well as entertainment.

They could own TikTok.

They could own Paramount.

They could own Warner Bros.

They could own CNN, CBS News.

This would be a really unprecedented amount of control over how people get their information, how it's shaped, how culture is shaped.

And it's coming from people, again, who have been the very least sympathetic to Donald Trump.

Larry Ellison is an ally of Donald Trump.

He's been at the White House.

And as part of this deal, David Ellison agreed to a number of concessions to get this deal across the finish line at CBS News.

So they installed the conservative ombudsman there.

They're obviously bringing on Bari Weiss and a number of other things.

So I think it's at the very least concerning here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Oliver Darcy from the media newsletter Status joining us tonight.

Oliver, thank you.

Good to speak with you.

OLIVER DARCY: Thank you.